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A small percentage of males born with cryptorchidism (failure of one or both testicles to descend into the scrotum), the most frequent congenital birth defect in male children, are more likely to have genetic mutations, including for a syndrome that is a common genetic cause of infertility, according to a study in the November 19 issue of JAMA.

Obese women who have weight loss surgery before becoming pregnant have a lower risk of pregnancy-related health problems and their children are less likely to be born with complications, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Women who underwent bariatric surgery and lost weight before becoming pregnant had a significantly lower risk of gestational diabetes and high blood pressure than obese women who did not have surgery, according to the study published in the Nov. 19 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Over the years, hunting for cancer-related genes and understanding how they work has been an important, although time-consuming, exercise. At Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), five different research groups have now combined their expertise to speed up the rate of discovering cancer-related genes and validating their function in living animals.

"One type of solar cell design starts with a chain of chromophores strung between two electrodes," explained Dewey Holten, Ph.D., professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences. "This chain absorbs the light energy and directs that energy towards one electrode, where it is deposited as an electron. The molecule which lost the electron now has a positive charge left behind called a hole. The hole migrates down the chain towards the opposite electrode. The electron and the hole recombine in the external circuit, creating the electrical current to do work."

PHILADELPHIA - A home-based program to improve exercise and diet led to significant, clinically meaningful improvement in body weight and physical function among older long-term cancer survivors in preliminary findings from the RENEW (Reach-out to ENhancE Wellness) trial, according to Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D., from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center's Department of Behavioral Science. The data are being presented at the seventh annual American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Conference.

Houston, Tex. – November 18, 2008 – A study appearing in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society shows that Medicare beneficiaries' understanding of their healthcare benefits may affect their ability to access needed care effectively and could lead them to the delay or avoid seeking care.

With millions of baby boomers entering late adulthood, the number of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is expected to drastically rise over the next several decades.

A team of national researchers, led by Emory University, has developed a rapid screening test to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI) — often the earliest stage of AD. The findings are published today in the online edition of Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Scientists at the University of Texas at Austin have identified pathways by which a reduced-calorie diet and exercise can modify a postmenopausal woman's risk of breast cancer.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The cancer preventive properties of broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables appear to work specifically in smokers, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Climbing stairs, carrying groceries, taking a shower – these are activities that we take for granted; however, after a cancer diagnosis, many survivors are unable to function as they used to. Home-based diet and exercise interventions may improve physical functioning in older, long-term cancer survivors, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's Seventh Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research.

New York, NY, November 18, 2008 -- Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have reported that two common cancer drugs have been used to block and reverse type 1 diabetes in mice. The JDRF-funded study, published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was led by Jeffrey Bluestone, Ph.D., director of the Diabetes Center at UCSF and an expert in the field of autoimmunity.

A nontoxic nanoparticle developed by Penn State researchers is proving to be an all-around effective delivery system for both therapeutic drugs and the fluorescent dyes that can track their delivery.

In a recent online issue of Nano Letters, an interdisciplinary group of materials scientists, chemists, bioengineers, physicists, and pharmacologists show that calcium phosphate particles ranging in size from 20 to 50 nanometers will successfully enter cells and dissolve harmlessly, releasing their cargo of drugs or dye.

Why are so many infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans? Why do we have so little capacity to predict epidemics, or avoid them? Some answers, and possible solutions, can be found in the first trench-to-bench guide to wild primate infectious diseases, published Nov. 17 in the Yearbook of Physical Anthropology.

Irvine, Calif., Nov. 18, 2008 — Raging wildfires that engulfed Southern California earlier this decade not only destroyed neighborhoods laying in their path, they also caused significant health problems for many who lived outside the fires' reach.

AMES, Iowa -- Friction is the bane of any machine. When moving parts are subject to friction, it takes more energy to move them, the machine doesn't operate as efficiently, and the parts have a tendency to wear out over time.

But if you could manufacture parts that had tough, "slippery" surfaces, there'd be less friction, requiring less input energy and the parts would last longer. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Ames Laboratory are collaborating with other research labs, universities, and industrial partners to develop just such a coating.